Free LEED Green Associate Practice Exam

LEED is the world's leading green building rating system and earning the LEED Green Associate credential is the first major step in LEED credentials. The LEED Green Associate exam contains 100 multiple choice questions that must be completed in 2 hours. One of the crucial steps for successfully passing the LEED Green Associate exam is to take practice tests in order to test and reinforce knowledge, and to become familiar with the actual test format. In this blog post, we have created a free LEED Green Associate exam for you. The exam questions are prepared in the same scope and format of the actual LEED Green Associate exam and the detailed answer explanations will enable you to learn more than just the correct answer.

If you would like to get full-length online LEED Green Associate practice exams, click here to check out our practice exams that are designed to provide the candidate with a real exam simulation and will enable the test-taker to assess and reinforce knowledge while simultaneously identifying weak spots. 

Now let's go through our free LEED Green Associate practice exam. You have two options to take the free practice exam. You can either go through the practice questions below or you can choose to take the free exam with our practice exam simulator. Click here to take the exam with the simulator.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #1

Which of the following is an intentional reduction in the electricity usage in response to a curtailment event or changes in the price of electricity?

a) Retrocommissioning

b) Demand response

c) Green pricing

d) Load shifting

Correct Answer: B.

Think about a power plant that serves the whole city and imagine that the weather gets extremely hot beyond the normal average temperature. As a consequence, everyone simultaneously turns on his or her air conditioner, creating a sudden increase in electricity demand. If the power plant’s energy is not enough to handle that peak demand, then the utility company would think about constructing an additional plant, or it would need to find additional generation sources, including nonrenewable energy sources.

Demand response is a technology that aims to overcome these types of conflicts by reducing energy demand, especially during peak times. The utility company sends an alert, which is called a DR event or a curtailment event, to commercial customers who agree to change their usage patterns at peak demands. In turn, the commercial consumers reduce their demand with the alert. Consumers are rewarded for their participation in the demand response, and the construction of additional power plants is avoided. In some cities, utility companies may charge extra during peak times in order to reduce energy demand.

Retrocommissioning is a systematic process for analyzing and optimizing building system performance. Retrocommissioning is basically the same process of commissioning applied to existing buildings. The aim of retrocommissioning is to keep a building on track for meeting or exceeding the original operational goals.

Green pricing is an extra fee for purchasing green power. For example, if the local utility provider sells green power, the project team can directly purchase and use green power. However, if the local utility company does not sell green power, then the project team can pay an extra fee—called green pricing—to the local utility company to buy a set quantity of green power instead of buying electricity produced by nonrenewable energy sources.

Load shifting is storing the energy generated during off-peak hours to use it during peak-demand hours. Usually, battery systems are used to store the energy during load shifting. 

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #2

Energy consumed during the employee commuting and business travel can be classified as:

a) Scope 1 energy

b) Scope 2 energy

c) Scope 3 energy

d) None of the above

Correct Answer: C.

A scope 1 energy relates to the direct energy from the owned or controlled sources, while a scope 2 energy relates to the purchased energy, and scope 3 energy relates to energy sources that are not owned or directly controlled.

To illustrate, the energy generated on-site through burning of fossil fuels will fall under scope 1 energy, and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions will be classified as a scope 1 emission. The electricity bought from a utility company will be classified as a scope 2 energy, and the resulting greenhouse gas emission will be a scope 2 emission. The energy consumed during the employee commuting and business travel will be classified as a scope 3 energy.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #3

A major renovation project is thinking about using the existing HVAC&R equipment that contains 1 pound (450 grams) of CFC based refrigerant. In order to be eligible for a LEED certification, the project team should:

a) Complete a CFC phase-out conversion before the project completion

b) Complete a CFC phase-out conversion during the first 5 years of the occupancy period

c) Complete a CFC phase-out conversion during the first 10 years of the occupancy period

d) 1 pound (450 grams) of CFC refrigerant in an existing piece of equipment is acceptable according to LEED standards, the equipment can be used without a CFC phase-out

Correct Answer: A.

According to the Fundamental Refrigerant Management prerequisite, LEED BD+C projects cannot use CFC based refrigerants for all the newly installed HVAC&R systems, and should phase-out CFC based refrigerants more than 0.5 pound (225 grams) in existing equipment before the project completion.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #4

__________  indicates a material’s ability to stay cool by reflecting solar radiation and emitting thermal radiation. Thus, both the reflectance and emissivity of a material will be combined to rank the material.

a) Solar reflectance index (SRI)

b) Solar reflectance (SR)

c) Albedo

d) Heat island effect

Correct Answer: A.

Solar reflectance index (SRI) value indicates a material’s ability to stay cool by reflecting solar radiation and emitting thermal radiation. Thus, both the reflectance and emissivity of a material will be combined to rank the material.

Solar reflectance (SR) value shows the solar energy that is reflected by a surface on a scale of “0” to “1”. A black surface will have a SR of “0”, while a white surface will have a SR of “1”. SR does not does not consider the emissivity of the material.

Albedo is a type of reflectivity measurement from “0” to “1”, which “0” represents black surfaces that absorb all the solar radiation, while “1” represents white surfaces that reflects all the solar radiation. Albedo does not does not consider the emissivity of the material.

Heat island effect is not a reflectivity measurement. Dark colored, non-reflective surfaces absorb heat during hot weather, and release it into the atmosphere, and this releasing of heat is called the heat island effect.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #5

Which of the following refrigerants ozone depletion potential (ODP) is very close to zero?

a) Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

b) Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

c) Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

d) CFC-502

Correct Answer: C.

It is important to note that natural refrigerants do not have any ozone depletion potential and HFCs’ ozone depletion potentials are very close to zero. Below is the table that shows the ODPs and GWPs of common refrigerants, which is also very important to know for the exam purposes.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #6

Which of the following are the phases of the split review option for the LEED BD+C and LEED ID+C project certification?

a) Preliminary design and construction

b) Anticipated and awarded

c) Design and construction

d) Preliminary review and final review

Correct Answer: C.

There are two types of review options for LEED BD+C and LEED ID+C projects. The first review option is the combined review, in which documentation for all the design and construction prerequisites/credits are submitted for review at the end of the construction phase. At the end of combined review, GBCI will mark the submitted prerequisites/credits as awarded or denied (this phase is called the preliminary review phase). If there is more information needed by GBCI about a prerequisite/credit, GBCI will mark it as clarify, and the project teams will submit the requested clarification (this phase is called the final review phase). It is a little riskier compared to the second review option, which is the split review. If some of the expected credits are not awarded, there will not be a make-up, since the project is already completed and no change in design or construction can be made. If a prerequisite is not awarded, then the project will not be able to receive a LEED certification at all.

The second option is the split review option, in which the design prerequisites/credits are submitted for review during the design phase, and both the additional design prerequisites/credits (if any) and all the construction prerequisites/credits are submitted at the end of the construction phase. The split review option has two phases, which are design and construction. When the design review is complete, GBCI will either mark the design prerequisites/credits either as anticipated or denied. No prerequisite/credit will be awarded during the design phase, since the design will also need to be implemented on-site during the construction phase. If a design prerequisite/credit is marked as anticipated, it means that the project will earn it at the end of construction phase once that design is implemented on-site. If it’s marked as denied, the project teams will need to come up with a design alternative rather than proceeding with that design in order to earn the prerequisite/credit. And at the end of construction review, GBCI will this time mark the submitted prerequisites/credits as awarded or denied. If there is more information needed by GBCI about a prerequisite/credit, GBCI will mark it as clarify, and the project teams will submit the requested clarification.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #7

When choosing environmentally friendly products, a project team should look for: (Choose 3)

a) Health Product Declarations (HPD)

b) Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)

c) Corporate Sustainability Reports (CSR)

d) Custodial effectiveness assessments

e) Greenwashing

Correct Answer: A,B, and C.

Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) evaluates the entire life-cycle of a product and assess the cost of the product on the environment. Products that contain an EPD will give information about a product’s impact on global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution, greenhouse gas emission, human toxicity, and more.

Furthermore, a product with a Health Product Declaration (HPD) will provide disclosure about its material ingredients, list of potential chemicals, related concerns, and additional health information. For manufacturers or raw-material suppliers, Corporate Sustainability Reports (CSR) will provide information about the manufacturer or raw-material supplier of a product that has been verified to employ sustainable principles during the creation of their products. By considering products with transparent information and declarations, project teams can make better decisions.

Custodial effectiveness assessments is about cleanliness of a building, which should also be conducted to obtain the occupants’ opinions of the green cleaning program during the building operation phase, to see if they are ever exposed to contaminants. For this question, it does not relate to choosing environmentally friendly products.

Project teams should be careful about greenwashing when selecting products. Greenwashing refers to the presentation of a product or a material as being more environmentally friendly than it actually is.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #8

Which of the following LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) credit category encourages more sustainable use of materials and the reuse of existing and historic structures?


a) Smart Location and Linkage

b) Innovation and Design

c) Green Infrastructure and Buildings

d) Regional Priority

Correct Answer: C.

Below is the list of LEED ND credit categories and their descriptions:

• Smart Location and Linkage: Promotes communities to consider location, transportation alternatives, and the preservation of sensitive lands, while also discouraging sprawl.
• Neighborhood Pattern and Design: Promotes the development of vibrant, equitable communities that are healthy, walkable, and mixed-use.
• Green Infrastructure and Buildings: Promotes the design and construction of buildings and infrastructure that use less energy and water. Encouraging more sustainable use of materials, and the reuse of existing and historic structures.
• Innovation and Design: Process recognizes exemplary and innovative performance reaching beyond the existing credits in the rating system, as well as the value of including a LEED AP on the design team.
• Regional Priority Credit: Encourages projects to focus on earning credits of significance to the project’s local environment.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #9

For LEED, recycled content is the sum of __________, which is based on cost.

a) Postconsumer recycled content plus the preconsumer recycled content

b) Postconsumer recycled content plus one-half of the preconsumer recycled content

c) One-half the postconsumer recycled content plus one-half the preconsumer recycled content

d) One-half the postconsumer recycled content plus the preconsumer recycled content

Correct Answer: B.

For LEED, recycled content is the sum of postconsumer recycled content plus one-half the preconsumer recycled content, which is based on cost.

LEED Green Associate Questions and Answers #10

Which of the following LEED certification fees will vary according to the project size?

a) Registration fee

b) Review (certification) fee

c) Expedited review fee

d) Credit interpretation ruling fee

Correct Answer: B.

Review (certification) fees varies according to the gross floor area of the project and membership status; it is not a flat fee like the registration fee.

Expedited review is also available for an extra flat fee. The fees are flat fees for both USGBC members and nonmembers and will reduce the review duration from 20–25 days down to 10–12 days.

A Credit interpretation ruling (CIR) has a fixed cost for both USGBC members and nonmembers. One Credit interpretation ruling (CIR) can be sent to clarify a single question, and project teams can submit an unlimited number of CIRs.

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